This is the biggest question any person nearing the end of a chapter says. Junior year of college is when everyone has that panic moment when they realize they won’t be married by the end of college and don’t know what they want to do with their life. Being an adult sounds hard. At least, this is what the girls and I talked about in English Bible Study last night. When I get coffee with American students over here, this seems to be the number one question I receive: How did you decide what the next step was?
About 2 years ago I embarked on a journey to Indiana (really far, I know) to head to National Student Conference with Encounter, which is where I received the best advice on how we can make Christ-based choices for what’s next. Here are the questions to ask yourself:
1. Is it in the Bible or no?
If you have made the choice to follow Jesus, then God’s narrative for us is the first place to check. This should give us pretty clear answers. If you are wondering if you should be giving money to people or organizations, and you check in the Bible, you can find some pretty clear evidence telling you to tithe. Same goes for the Great Commission. God doesn’t just call one of us or only people who have gone to seminary, or people who have read the entire Bible…but everyone. In whatever capacity that means for your life. If it’s important enough to be mentioned in the Bible, then it’s probably something we should be doing, right?
However, many times what we are looking to isn’t in the Bible which leads us to question 2…
2. What is the wisest choice?
God didn’t actually specifically put in the Bible if you should go to grad school or not. God didn’t instruct whether you should live close to your family or not. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons in every scenario. Maybe acquiring more debt isn’t the smartest option right now if you can get a good job and start paying off loans first. Maybe investing in your grandchildren is a way to be serving the Lord right now. I don’t know what this means for you, but I’m sure you have great friends who are there to help you figure it out. What choice can honor God best in the scenario you are facing?
3. What are you passionate about?
God gives us passions! In fact, He wants us to FOLLOW THEM. Isn’t that cool? He gives us skills and talents in things we like to do, then he gives us permission to do that with our life! (or at least part of our life). If it’s not clearly mentioned in the Bible, and there is not an unwise choice, then do what you love! For example, when given 3 options for places to serve with Globalscope, I had a deep panic about which one to choose. Then I realized I already honored God by choosing to be obedient so there wasn’t an unwise choice on where to serve. I simply thought I would fit well in Spain, connect with the student, and could envision a life for myself there.
I hope this can provide guidance on something in your life. No matter if it’s something as small as how you should fill your weekend, or what to do after college, this list can be applied anytime you are in a pickle.
Sending love and hugs! Reach out if you want to know more about how I’ve used this or YOU need help making a decision! I love pro/con lists 😉 And just for fun, here’s one of my favorite photos from our “Desayuno de Chicas” this past weekend.
